Wild fires forest fires how are they handled in your area?

JOCCO · Mar 3, 2016

Do any of you have an thing to do with them? How are they handled in your state? I know some areas rarely have an issue others 1/2 the county burns up!!! Does your local fire dept. deal with it or a state or federal agency? Needless to say I have. Nutshell version here fire dept. does what it can in towns if its to big state steps in. Remote areas falls under state. They are having issues getting man power and in some cases hire private equipment (dozers, tractors, excavators) A newer plan is control burn of some areas or let a problem fire burn out an area as prevention for the future, like between two roads. Yes arson is an issue along with care less use of out door fire. So chime in.

Richard G. · Mar 3, 2016

Here in SC, the local volunteer fire departments usually arrive first. Our county has a branch department within 5 miles of every place in the county.
They also call the SC Forestry Commission and a supervisor and fire warden show up with a state owned dozer. We have everything from flatlands to rolling hills to steep mountains.
We have 3 fire wardens in the county with dozers. My son is one of them. He is on call 5 days a week and all the time during bad dry and windy times.
There are many places that the fire trucks can't get to.
If a fire gets bad anywhere in the state, my son may be called to go for as long as a week.
It always amazes me that people will try to burn something on a dry windy day. They sometimes get fined if a fire gets out.
We also get some lightning caused fires in the steep mountains that require hand fighting.
Richard in NW SC

Lazy WP · Mar 3, 2016

When I lived in Nebraska, I lived between the National forest and the Rosebud Sioux rez. Both federal controlled. I had my own 250 gallon skid unit, on a dedicated 1 ton dually. Between the local rancher with setups like mine, and the local volunteers we could knock the fires down, but either the tribe, or Forest Service would mop it up.

David G · Mar 3, 2016

I do not think we have enough trees in Iowa for a forest fire.

jstpa · Mar 3, 2016

Just went through this on sunday. New neighbors waited till we had a dry windy day and decided to burn trash. It blew into the woods and we called the fire department. Local volunteers showed up, and then dcnr showed up. It was only one guy for dcnr , but the volunteer firemen said dcnr would take over the scene if it got worse. It was just a half acre or so that burned so it wasn't big , but thats how it was handled in south central pa. jstpa

dpendzic · Mar 3, 2016

Here on Long Island NY the local volunteer fire depts fight the wild fires. ost all fire departments have what we call a Brush Truck--5 ton or 21/2 ton GI armored and has a tank and pump--use them to drive to the fire--most trees are fairly small so can drive over many of them

Pitch · Mar 3, 2016

Slightly OT> While driving in Virginia few years ago we noticed signs stating something to the effect, "No open burning before 5 PM". Thought it was weird, but upon reflection I am assuming that more volunteer fire fighters would be available after five in case something ran away.

Leroy · Mar 3, 2016

Don't have them here in northwestern Ohio, field fires once in a while and all rural departments have what is called a grass fire truck, based on a 4 wheel drive pickup.

JOCCO · Mar 3, 2016

Correct many areas use that model and fire danger decreases in the evening/night hours as a rule.

John M · Mar 3, 2016

We havent had any forest fires in my area of SC for years now, but I recall one they just let it burn. Wasnt much acreage, like 15 or 20 acres. They partolled the borders, and kept the sides of the roads wet, after a few hours it was out. There was another one county up, on a mountain, or a big hill, and the locals FD was still able to get to it to put it out, but I dont know how they did it. When I volunteered, we had a brush truck, but nothing like that. Ours was a modified retired Army truck, and the most it got used was in fields that caught on fire.

jm. · Mar 3, 2016

Tennessee has a division of forestry with at least one like a d3 and two ton truck in most counties. They respond along with volunteer fire departments in rural fires. If it is larger they bring in dozers from other counties.

Richard G. · Mar 3, 2016

Saw one of those signs near Somerset VA several years ago. Asked about it and was told more fire fighters available in the evening after work.
Richard in NW SC

dr sportster · Mar 3, 2016

Just brush fires here or fragmite fires in the meadowlands from ciggys thrown on the turnpike.

CGID · Mar 3, 2016

It's big business in the Western states. The national center for coordination of equipment and crews is located in Boise. Bus-loads and airplane loads of firefighters are transported all over the country as needs be. Firefighters from Australia and New Zealand are brought in when USA crews are spread too thin. USA crews are traded back there when needed. Civilian and military aircraft from C47's (DC3's), to four engine jets to Skiorsky (sp) Sky Crane helicopters are used to spread retardant.
Local restaurants set up assembly lines to make up bag lunches for the crews. Federal and state firetrucks, fuelers and earth-movers of all sorts get in the act.
Due to restrictive regulations and the boom/bust nature of mining and logging, unemployment runs high in most of the western small towns. People there count on fire season for their economic survival. Great pains are taken to prevent loss of life fighting wild-fires and the goal of most firefighting efforts is not to put the fire out, but to let it burn while keeping it as small as possible - containment. It's a good policy and it insures plenty of work for the people who need it.
The national news rarely differentiates range-land fires from forest fires. The really huge ones (the burn from last years "Soda" fire can be seen from space) are usually range land fires and the invasive pox of cheat grass is the culprit.

jon f mn · Mar 3, 2016

Less wind to spread the fire after 5.

2underage · Mar 3, 2016

Here in NY state there is a law banning open burning between March 15 and May 15. I do not understand March but in May the grass can be very dry and that is when most grass fires tend to occur .

Dick2 · Mar 3, 2016

Whenever there are large forest fires in AZ, the Feds commandeer a lot of equipment from ADOT. They abuse the equipment and ADOT has to repair it. Sometimes it takes months to even find the equipment after the Feds used it. It takes a long time to collect "rent" and repair costs from the Feds, so ADOT is not very happy about that arrangement.

Greg1959 · Mar 3, 2016

When I first bought my place, I was trying to burn one 10 acre bottom full of weeds and overgrowth. Neighbor came over on his tractor and said "You are wasting your time. Nothing burns around here after 5:30 p.m.". He was right. You can't get any brush to catch fire after 5:30 p.m., believe me, I've tried.

Steamboat · Mar 3, 2016

Yes we have a "fire law" here in Virginia that prohibits outdoor burning between (I think) about Feb 1 to May 15th. During those dates you cannot start a fire until after 5pm and it must be out by midnight. The reasoning is that the relative humidity will be higher in the evening, thus fire hazard less. However, the Governor can, and has upon extreme occasions, placed a ban on all outdoor burning at any date and time, and can even delay hunting seasons. VDF technicians and Area Forester can and do write citations for violations.

psimmer · Mar 3, 2016

I worked for the State of Michigan for 33 years fighting fire. It is typically a joint effort as most calls go into 911 and local Fire Departments respond. Most have some sort of brush rig, based on a 4x4 pickup. Some areas of Michigan are protected by the State, others by the US Forest Service depending on public land ownership. Both the State and USFS also use aircraft to detect wildfire, but neither have aircraft in state to drop water on fires. There have been times when aircraft have been used to assist suppressing fires, but they come from either out of state or sometimes National Guard. Depending on complexity and size, Mi DNR and USFS work together if the fire is close to the border between the two agencies, or if size dictates additional resources are required.

mj · Mar 3, 2016

(quoted from post at 10:28:52 03/03/16) Less wind to spread the fire after 5.

Around here, that depends on the time of year. Stubble and ditch bank burning is going on right now, mostly during daylight hours. If it gets out of control the local fire district takes care of it but if it's on public ground then the BLM and Forest Service climb on with all of their resources; it seems like there is very good coordination between all of them, from what I've seen.

Dan in Ohio · Mar 3, 2016

I live in a 20 acre woods that is seamlessly joined to a couple hundred more acres of thick woods. What I have noticed is that the dead elm are now being joined by the dead ash on the forest floor. Reminds me of what I have seen in Colorado where the dead trees on the forest floor really seem to pile up just waiting to catch fire. Maybe we are just one dry summer away from the forest fires that are common in the west. I doubt communities in Ohio that rely on volunteer fire fighters are equipped to handle any large forest fire.

craigco · Mar 3, 2016

On the army base they just let it go until it's out of control and have to call in more help when the smoke is blanketing the city. Then the big ones around the Colorado springs let it get so big that the feds have to put it out. There are several companies that made most of their money fighting the fires. Last year was wet so not alot of work for them.

Tom in CO · Mar 3, 2016

Out here in Colorado they happen all the time, The state kicks in when the locals cant get a handle on it, and when it gets too big the federal boys jump in. A lot of the local county government have a proactive approach to the fires. A lot of fire mitigation and education with controlled burns. I have a 4000 gallon stand alone dry hydrant on my place. I also have a fire pump, evacuation plan and emergency horn with police and fire band radios. In the summer our humidity will hit a high of 12% during the day and a litter higher during the night, hard to fight a fire with those conditions. The news is already broadcasting fire warning for the plains and front range.
I'm ok for now, we still have snow on the ground.
Tom

unc · Mar 3, 2016

Interesting topic tonight. Here in southern Alberta, we use a combination of resources. Volunteer departments handle cropland and highway fires. Fires in the foothills and mountains usually involve provincial lands and forest Dept. During fire season, equipment is staged at several wildfire bases, along with personnel. Typical camp is 3 dozers, a high hoe, water truck, and cat boss with a side by side. Personnel will be a mix of govt people and contract crews. The equipment is privately owned, and paid a stand-by rate when waiting. Fire fighting is often done with bucket equipped choppers, followed by the cat crew, and foot sloggers. Our provincial govt went lefty last election, and there are rumours that they want to replace private equipment with govt owned. It may be an interesting summer.unc

Wild fires forest fires how are they handled in your area?

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